The Lord, working in the midst of the people of Israel, bestowed some of the spirit of Moses on seventy elders which was further extended to two more elders who were not present at the time.
In the words of the author of the book of Numbers:
“Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders….” These elders were given some of the spirit of Moses, …that they may share the burden of the people with you (Moses). You will then not have to bear it by yourself.
So, despite the power and greatness of Moses, he would not lead the people of Israel alone. He needed more hands and support. I ask you, have you received the same spirit to support the bishop or your pastor? No priest can carry the burden of leading this community of God’ people alone. Everyone has the spirit through Baptism, Confirmation or Marriage to contribute to the spiritual and physical growth and development of this community.
James gives a strong warning to those who acquire wealth through unjust means.
Some of us have private businesses, companies where we employ workers. James wants such people to carry out their business in justice, fairness and respect for the dignity of people. As employers, James wants us to avoid exploitation, cheating of those who work for us. Wealth through exploitation of others is vanity. As Christians, we must promote equity, social, and economic justice given that we are all children of God, we are brothers and sisters.
The gospel of today presents us with different lessons.
First, in Jesus’ response to someone driving out demons in his Name, he warned against intolerance and jealousy towards others. No one has a monopoly of the spirit of God. As he said, “For whoever is not against us is for us.” Every little act of kindness and generosity will always be rewarded.
 
The second part of the gospel of today is difficult and most be understood within the right perspective or context. 
Jesus warned us against leading or causing others to sin. He wants us to avoid being a bad example or influencing people by leading them into sin. 
To the more difficult part, he said, If your hand, foot or eyes should cause you to sin, they should be cut off or plucked off. These parts of our bodies are very important for quality life. We should not take this teaching in a literal way. At a deeper level Jesus is saying whatever way our hand or foot or eyes are leading you to sin remove the root cause. Sacrifice it for your salvation. In physical life sometimes the removal of a part of the body through surgery is the only way to preserve the whole body. The same is true in spiritual life. Our greatest goal and desire in life is to become a saint, to enter the kingdom of God, heaven. Jesus is saying that, it may be necessary to remove some habit, abandon some pleasure, give up some friendship, to cut out something that has become dear to us, in order to be fully obedient to the holy will of God. Jesus is saying, if there is anything that is coming between us and a perfect obedience to God, anything capable of keeping us out of the kingdom of God, however much we value them, such must be rooted out of our lives even though it may be painful as in surgical operation. This may seem difficult and stern, but it’s the only way to true, intimate union with God, the only way to true happiness, peace, freedom and path to eternal life, salvation and redemption in Christ Jesus who sacrificed his very own life for us.